Why do you need a Google My Business account?

Setting up a Google My Business account its a key factor in gaining new business if you are a small or even a larger sized company. This free tool allows you to show up at the top of Google search results as well as Google Maps, giving you more visibility to customers who are searching for you or for a service that you may offer. Setting up your Google My Business account can sometimes be tricky. This brief guide will tell you why a Google My Business account is important, roadblocks you could face, the importance and impact this profile can have and the steps to take when setting up your Google My Business account.

Table of Contents: Google My Business Account

Why you need a Google My Business account

The importance of Reviews

How to set up your Google My Business account

How to verify your business on Google and the different ways to do it

Already have a Google My Business Account? Here's how to gain access

Ways to optimize you Google My Business Profile

Here's Why You Need To Set Up a Google My Business Account

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If you don't already have a Google My Business account, here why you might want to think about getting one.

Your Customers are online

Phone books are a thing of the past and let's face it, everyone's customer base has now gone digital, which means that the first place they will go to find a service that you could potentially offer, will be Google. Plus, its a free and very easy to use tool. Who doesn't like free?

Whether you're looking for more walk-in customers or traffic to your website, Google is the power house of search engines. Having a Google My Business account allows your customers to search a service you may offer or even to search your company itself and have your listing show up. It will show them your hours of operation, your rating and reviews, where you're located and how to find you whether that be through your website or your street address.

Another thing to keep in mind is that your Google My Business account can also dramatically impact your local ranking as well as your SEO. As much as 92% of people in recent years will make their initial search, scan the page to see if they find what they are looking for and if they don't, most of the time they will adjust their search instead of going to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th page to find it. Having a Google My Business account allows you to show up on the first page of their search almost every time.

Stay active and keep your customers updated

When someone does find your Google My Business listing, make sure to have all of your information displayed correctly. This will allow your customers to find all the information they need so they don't have to call you to get it which will make it easier for them to decide to pay you a visit.

Your Google My Business listing should include hours of operation and also the best way to contact you whether that be through phone or email. You can also share posts, reviews and updates on your profile. All of these features allow you to stay active for your customers and to keep them updated on any changes your business is going through. For example, there has been many businesses who have been affected by COVID-19, luckily Google My Business has features to address changes your business has had to make due to COVID-19.

Let's say you have a competitor that doesn't have their Google My Business account set up and you do. You will most like show up above them since Google has very strong local SEO. You are only limited to how much effort you want to put in to your account but the more active you are the more Google will see you as the best result for someone looking for your type of business.

Be transparent with your consumers

Believe it or not, having a Google My Business profile tends to show consumers that you are more of a credible result for them. Businesses that have a Google My Business profile set up will gain more traffic than someone who doesn't. To back that statement up, 70% of people are more likely to visit a listing that is on Google. I know right? This all comes back to the title of this section, "be transparent". The reason you want to essentially lay it all out on the table is because it allows consumers to have more trust in your business. Having a Google My Business profile alone will already instill more trust in your company.

The importance of Reviews

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Having reviews on your profile, again, plays into the credibility of your business. It is very important to let consumers know they are able to leave a review and how much it means to you as a business.

Now obviously people want 5 star reviews, that's no secret, but don't think that negative reviews are a bad thing either. Believe it or not, having a lower rating here and there can actually legitimize your business even more. Google makes it simple to leave reviews.

Find the listing and click on the "write a review" section. You can find this at the bottom right beneath their photos. Now if you are a business owner, and you want to ask for a review, Google has made that very accessible as well.

On your Google My Business profile manager home page, there is a section that states "share review form". Once you click on this, a link will appear that you can copy and from there send it off to a customer and politely ask for a review. I know, super easy.

How to set up you Google My Business account

Now we get to the exiting part, setting up your profile!

Step #1. Search your browser for Google My Business

Visit www.google.com/business to get started on your profile. Typically you will start creating your account by using an exiting Gmail account but if you ant to create a new one, there's always tat option as well.

Step #2. Start adding your business and it's details

You can start this process by simply finding a business you'd like to mange or by adding your new business to Google. That option can be found just below the business search bar. Following this, you will be asked to fill out the best category that fits your business. When going through these steps, make sure you pick exactly what type of business category you want. The reason being is that Google isn't a fan of having distinctive information changed regularly, so try your best to be selective.

Step #3. Add your Businesses Address (location)

You will be asked if you have a physical location that you can allow customers to visit, if you do, select yes from the options. After that, Google will ask you where you service your customers. This is great for anyone that might have multiple stores in different cities. Like I said, its important to be descriptive because if you have a business in Saskatoon and in Edmonton, be sure to note that down because the search engines can land in your favor at other locations as well.

Step#4. Fill in you businesses contact information (important)

You're almost there. Feel's pretty great doesn't it?? The next step is to enter your businesses phone number and also the website you customers can visit.

Step #5. Finish the process and start managing your business

Google will ask you if you would like to receive notifications regarding the business you just set up. Although this is optional, there's no reason as to why you wouldn't click yes. Google provides you with all kinds of updates regarding your business which can help you stay on top of what is happening with you business and the behavior of your consumers.

How to verify your business on Google and the different ways to do it

Now that you have complete the your account setup, its time to verify your business on Google. I will share a secret with you, there can be articles online stating that you can call Google to get verified. This is false. In my experience, there is two ways to do so, by postcard or video verification (newly implemented by Google). We will go over the postcard verification process first.

Postcard Verification

Step #1. Sing into your Google My Business

Type in www.google.com/business to sign into your account

Step #2. Click the Verify now option

If you are managing more than one business, make sure you select the right one.

Step #3. Choose your verification option

Seems simple enough right? Most of the time it is this simple. Request a post card and wait (usually takes 12 days). Like I have said before, there are multiple articles across the web that will tell you that you have different options to get verified but in my experience, there has only been 2 ways that worked and given me less issues.

When choosing the Postcard Verification option, it will prompt you to fill in your mailing address so Google knows where to send the postcard. Again, this process takes time. You will hear a lot of people say it will take a couple days but the reality is it can take up to 2 weeks to receive your card. I know, it's a tad annoying but this is the way it is. Prepare yourself to wait a while for this card to arrive but on the bright side now that you know this takes time, make this process one of your top priorities if you are starting a new business.

Video Verification

Now we move onto the second option that you can use if you don't feel like waiting 2 weeks for a post card. Google's Video Verification process is something not many people know about since Google recently introduced it. Along with it being a new option, it is not always easily accessible.

There are two ways to do this, first you can email Google My Business and request a video meeting. They are usually pretty quick to respond all things considered (24-48 hours). Once they get back to you, they will ask you to give them a time and day that works for you to have this meeting. Here's a tip, give yourself a couple days so that you can also give Google My Business the chance to get back to you before your preferred meeting time.

Once they confirm your meeting time, they ask you to use Google Meets, which is a Chrome extension you can easily add. In their confirmation email there will be a link to Google Meets that you can use to connect to your meeting the day its happening.

Already have a Google My Business account? Here's How to Gain Access

If you already have an existing Google My Business account, there's a couple options you can use to gain access.

First Option

Log in to your Google My Business profile, search for your business (it will show up on the search) select the business you'd like to gain access to and follow the steps to confirm that you own the business.

Second Option

Locate your business through searching for it on Google. Once you find the listing you'd like to manage, click on the profile and beneath the hours of operation, click Manage Listing and follow the steps to complete.

Third Option

Search for the business you would like access to and on the bottom of the profile, to the right of "Suggest an edit", you will see a line that says " Own this business?", click this and follow the steps to complete. Now if someone has already gained access to the business you are trying to access, you can have them add you as a user on their profile. This can be done within your Google My Business profile under the "Users" section.

Ways to Optimize Your Google My Business Profile

Here are some of the ways you can increase you Google My Business ranking

Post weekly or bi-weekly photos

Essentially the idea here is to almost treat you Google My Business profile like a social media profile. Now I am not saying that you have to post or provide daily updates, but if this is something you'd like to do, there definitely no harm in doing so. Sharing new photos all point towards the legitimacy and relevancy of your business. It also tells Google that you are active on your profile which in turn will allow Google to reward you by ranking you higher because to them you are a more viable option to the consumer searching for you.

Responding to and posting reviews

Responding to your consumer reviews only helps you and your ranking more. Another tip is to get creative with your responses. Google loves to see carefully and thoughtfully written reviews because it will stand out more to Google's algorithm that you are actually taking time to respond to what your consumers review says. Along with responding to reviews for Google's sake, it is also really good for your consumers. If they end up on your profile, they will most likely look at your reviews and factor that into whether or not they would like to purchase from you. It will show them that you care about their experience they've had with you. Responding to negative reviews can even be seen as more important. This will show your consumers that even if you received a bad review, you took the time to address their concern instead of them just seeing a bad review with no response.

Make sure your business information is correct

Make sure your business information is correctly stated on your Google My Business profile. The reason that this is so important is because if Google were to scan your profile and see that you have one phone number on your profile, but a different one on your website, it can really hurt your ranking. This goes for pretty much anything you have related to your business on the web so make sure you have consistent information across all platforms.

Add specific services and attributes to your profile

On you Google My Business profile, on the side menu to the left, there is a section called "info". In there, you will see all the things you can add in regards to business information. The more information you can add, the better it is for you. You can add the areas you service, your hours of operation, phone number, website address, appointment links, products you offer and even services you offer. It is important to fill out all the information you can, specifically your services. Once you're in the "Info" section of your profile, scroll down to where you see services. You can choose preset services that Google offers, but you can also add custom services as well. You can add descriptions of that service and even the what it costs. Again, all of these steps will increase your credibility and ranking on Google.

There is one more thing I would like to address when it comes to business information. At the top of the page, once you've click on "Info", below your company name you have your main category. (ex: Marketing Agency). Google has presets built in for businesses to choose from. It is crucially important that you make sure you choose the right primary category the first time. The reason being is because if you set it to one thing, but a couple months down the road you decide to switch it, it can really hurt your ranking. You can feel free to adjust the secondary category but just make sure you have your primary category set up correctly. This will allow your business to display for certain services your consumers could be searching for and lets say you start to rank for that category, if you switch it, you could potentially cause more harm than good and lose any ranking you've managed to build.

Google My Business Insights

Google My Business Insights are a great way to track the progress you have and are making with your listing. It goes as far as showing what areas you are being search from, how many times your listing is clicked on, how many calls you've received from your listing, what keywords people are using to search for your business and even the numbers of times consumers have viewed your photos. This is a very useful tool to be aware of when it comes to tracking your Google My Business listing. All of this information can help you narrow down on certain searched keywords and areas your consumers are using and searching.

We hope this article has given you more information as to why having a Google My Business account can be very useful tool for your business. Other than waiting to be verified, it is a simple and fairly quick process to go through. Best of luck on your future Google My Business endeavors!

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